About me

I am an immigrant and a product of an immigrant history. I have immigrated with my parents from Russia to Israel at the age of 12. I have then moved to the US for study, at the age of 29, and stayed ever since. I was married to an immigrant from Romania (my children speak 3 languages). My brother has immigrated to Thailand. My uncle immigrated from Russia to Israel and then to Canada, and so did one of my cousins. My grandma was a war refugee, at the age of 16, from Poland to Uzbekistan, eventually ending up in Russia and then Israel. Curiously, all my friends and lovers, now and ever, were immigrants. I could never truly connect with people who did not change countries.

Leaving Israel for the US

But that’s just the outside shell, the external story, the dry facts. What hides behind that?

How was it for me to immigrate and go to school right away, not speaking a word of Hebrew?

How is it for me to raise my children, with their grandparents living half the way around the world?

How is it to live and have no connection to the holidays or customs of the country I live in?

How is it for me to speak three languages, all with an accent and none of them well enough to express myself fully?

What place do I call home?

And what do I answer to the ubiquitous question, which will follow me to my grave – “Where are you from?”

But that’s me. What about you? I want to hear your story. Contact me to participate in this project.